Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 29 November 2022
121. Deputy Neale Richmond asked the Minister for Social Protection if she will provide an update on the cost-of-living supports that she has provided for in Budget 2023; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [59109/22]
View answerIn response to the ongoing cost of living pressures, I announced on Budget Day that my Department will spend approximately €1.2 billion on social welfare measures to help individuals and families through this difficult period.
These measures include an Autumn Double Payment, which was paid in mid-October to over 1.4 million people, including pensioners, carers, people with disabilities, lone parents, and jobseekers. The Department of Social Protection paid a total of €316 million in additional payments during this week.
This was followed by a double payment of Child Benefit on 1st November, which was paid in respect of 1.2 million children across the State. 638,000 families benefited from this double payment, at a cost of €170 million. Child Benefit is an extremely important support that reaches hundreds of thousands of hardworking families.
On the same date, the first of three €200 Electricity Credits was applied to household’s electricity accounts. Two further Electricity Credit payments of €200 each will be paid to all households next year, at a total cost of €1.3 billion. This will help protect households from the risk of energy poverty through the winter months and during ongoing uncertainty due to Russia’s war in Ukraine.
During the week commencing 14th November, the Department paid a range of cost of living supports, which included:
- A €400 lump sum payment to over 370,000 households in receipt of Fuel Allowance;
- A €500 lump sum payment to 44,000 families receiving the Working Family Payment;
- A €500 Disability Support Grant to 216,000 recipients of Disability Allowance, Blind Pension and Invalidity Pension; and
- A €200 lump sum payment to the 234,000 recipients of the Living Alone Allowance.
In total, the Department paid an additional €325 million during this week in cost of living supports to over 865,000 people.
Last week, commencing 21st November, the Department paid a lump sum of €500 to over 114,000 carers, at a cost of €57.3 million.
In December, the Christmas Bonus double payment will be paid to pensioners, carers, people with disabilities, one-parent families, and other social protection recipients at a cost of €294 million.
I trust this clarifies the matter for the Deputy.
